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Sophos Reveals Latest "Dirty Dozen" Spam Producing Countries

08 April, 2005 08:45

<p>– US continues to lead the pack since last report in December 2004.– Australia re-enters chart in 11th spot.</p><p>Sophos, a global leader in network security, today published the results of its research on the top twelve spam producing countries. Researchers from SophosLabs™, Sophos's global network of virus and spam analysis centres, examined all spam messages received at its global network of spam traps from January 2005 through March 2005. Based on the analysis, experts found that the United States topped the Dirty Dozen chart once again, exporting an average of 35.70% of all spam during this timeframe.</p><p>The top spam producing countries are as follows:</p><p>1. United States 35.70%</p><p>2. South Korea 24.98%</p><p>3. China (incl Hong Kong) 9.71%</p><p>4. France 3.19%</p><p>5. Spain 2.74%</p><p>6. Canada 2.68%</p><p>7. Japan 2.10%</p><p>8. Brazil 1.95%</p><p>9. United Kingdom 1.57%</p><p>10. Germany 1.23%</p><p>11. Australia 1.22%</p><p>12. Poland 1.20%</p><p>Others 11.73%</p><p>"Australia dropped out of the Dirty Dozen last year, but has snuck back in over the past six months," said Paul Ducklin, Sophos’s Sydney-based Head of Technology for Asia Pacific. "But this doesn't mean that the Australian Spam Act was pointless. It just serves as a reminder that legislation is there to help with, rather than to sort out, the problem of unwanted email."</p><p>Ducklin explains that well over half of the world's spam comes from compromised PCs which have been covertly co-opted into so-called botnets or zombie armies. This means that a significant volume of spam comes from home computers connected to the internet by cable, DSL or even dialup, with spammers delivering their emails via other people's internet links. This gives the spammers volume, anonymity and geographical diversity, making it harder to track them down and to cut them off.</p><p>"By some measurements, the fact that Australia – a developed country with very strong internet usage – provides only 1.22% of the world's zombie computers can be seen as a good sign," suggests Ducklin.</p><p>"Nevertheless, 1.22% is still too high, and both corporate and consumer Australia should take it as a challenge to reduce this figure over the rest of 2005. Protecting your PC so that it can't be 'borrowed' by outsiders is important – patch early, patch often, and keep your anti-virus up-to-date! You wouldn't stand for having petrol swiped from your car every day, so don't stand for having your internet bandwidth stolen either."</p><p>In a recent report, Ferris Research estimates that spam will cost about $50 billion globally in 2005. Of this, some $17 billion will be lost by US businesses alone. To stop spam and avoid being part of this forecast, Sophos recommends that businesses deploy a consolidated solution at the email gateway, which can protect against both spam and viruses.</p><p>Sophos recommends that the most effective way that businesses can reduce spam and other threats, is to adopt a multi-layered defence in conjunction with implementing a best practice policy regarding email account usage. Users can also learn how to best minimize the influx of unwanted email by following a few simple guidelines. For more information on 'Best practice advice for minimizing exposure to spam', please visit:http://www.sophos.com.au/spaminfo/bestpractice/spam.html</p><p>About Sophos:Sophos is a global leader in network security. Headquartered in the UK, the company protects over 35 million business users – from small enterprises to academic and financial institutions to governments and global corporations – against multiple evolving threats such as viruses, spam, Trojans, worms and malicious spyware. Sophos is acclaimed for delivering the highest level of customer satisfaction and protection in the industry. The company's products are sold and supported in more than 150 countries.</p><p>Sophos's regional head office for Australia and New Zealand is in Sydney and hosts one of the company's four High Security Research and Development Laboratories to provide global support services.</p><p>For more information http://www.sophos.com.au</p><p>FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:Paul Ducklin (duck@sophos.com) is available for comment:+61 2 9409 9100 (tel)+61 2 407 320 515 (mob)+61 2 9409 9191 (fax)</p><p>Sophos's press contact at Gotley Nix Evans is:Michael Henderson (sophos@gne.com.au)+61 2 9957 5555 (tel)+61 413 054 738 (mob)+61 2 9957 5575 (fax)</p>

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